Barney & Friends

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Barney & Friends is a popular children's television show produced in the United States, mainly aimed at preschoolers. Barney is a large purple anthropomorphic dinosaur (a Tyrannosaurus rex to be exact), who conveys learning through his songs and friendly, optimistic attitude ("I love you, you love me, we're a happy family, with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too!").

Contents

1 Origin and development of the show
2 Criticism and Controversy
3 Cast
4 Crew
5 Specials
6 Funding
7 See also
8 External links

Origin and development of the show

Barney was created in 1987 by Sheryl Leach of Dallas, Texas. She came up with the idea for the program while considering TV shows that she felt would be educational and appeal to her son. Leach then brought together a team who created a series of home videos, Barney and the Backyard Gang, which also starred actress Sandy Duncan in the first 3 videos. Later, Barney was joined by the characters Baby Bop and BJ. In the new season, due to debut on September 18, a cousin of Baby Bop and BJ will join the series. Named "Riff", he is a musical Hadrosaurid, who will teach kids about world music. [link]

Although the videos were a modest regional success, Barney only became a mega hit when the character and format were revamped for series television and picked up by the Public Broadcasting System, debuting as "Barney & Friends" in 1992. The series was produced by Lyrick Studios. For several years, the show was taped at the ColorDynamics Studios facility at Greenville Avenue & Bethany Drive in Allen, after which it moved to The Studios at Las Colinas. Currently, the series is produced in a northern suburb of Dallas, Texas. The TV series and videos are distributed by HIT Entertainment.

Barney & Friends is now shown in other countries where it is translated if necessary. One such example is the Latin-American version produced in Mexico which is called Barney y Sus Amigos, (Spanish translation of "Barney and his Friends.")

Criticism and Controversy

Although most serious reviews of Barney & Friends have been positive, the show has been the target of a certain degree of controversy. This criticism generally stems from some disagreement in the messages that the show sends children through the situations that it portrays.

For instance, one particular episode made use of the phrase "A stranger is a friend you have not met yet," which some parents may view as sending a dangerous message to their children. Another episode was criticized because a situation in the episode could be interpreted as teaching children that cheating is good. In the episode, the children are involved in a contest where they have to carry a spoon with a peanut on it without dropping it. One child wins by putting peanut butter on his spoon to make the peanut stick, and then he is rewarded for "creative thinking." Another episode was also criticized because one situation could be interpreted as teaching children that it is ok to steal. In the episode, one child steals cookies from another child, but the other doesn`t care because he didn`t want them in the first place.

Critics have alleged that the show condones peer pressure and "group think", saying it encourages children to suppress outward signs of unhappiness rather than deal openly with their feelings, which has been shown to have dangerous effects on their development.

The show has also been criticized for its lack of educational value. The producers of the show admit this, but only claim that it's "escapist entertainment for young children." A similar point has been made in that the characters often use magic to solve real problems, something that is very controversial among Christian fundamentalists which they regard "magic" equivalent to witchcraft.

Also, some viewers have noted that Barney might teach dangerous activities to children, such as:

Placing boxes and other things on their heads, despite infant mortality rates from this type of thing.

Cooking on a stove without adult supervision, despite child and adult mortality rates increasing from accidents involving fire.

Capturing stinging, venomous insects such as bees without any supervision, despite annual fatalities caused by bee stings.

Cast

Crew

Sheryl Leach
Kathy Parker
Dennis DeShazer
Mark S. Bernthal (writer)
Stephen White (writer)

Specials

Barney's Imagination Island (1994)
Barney's Great Adventure (1998)

Funding

Corporation for Public Broadcasting (1992-1998)
Viewers Like You (1992-up)
Kimberly Clark (1993)
Chuck E. Cheeses (1998-up)
Kellogg's Frosted Flakes (1998)
Stonyfield Farm (2006-up)
Chef JR (1997)
Johnson & Johnson Corporation (1995)

External links

Current PBS Kids Shows (as of May 2006)

* No new episodes are being produced, yet many major PBS stations televise air reruns

List does not include shows from networks airing PBS Kids shows but not funded directly from PBS such as KLCS shows.

[Complete List] | [Current Shows] | [Past Shows] |

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